Paul Hartzell – 1980 Topps

January 31, 2012

Did I Make A Faulty Career Choice?

Oh, things were fine and dandy back in 1976. I went from Lehigh (got the ol’ engineering degree) to Quad Cities (not that much of a change, really) to Anaheim in less than a year. I was a swingman then, just happy to be in the big leagues. Sid Monge and I filled in the fifth starter role, picking up the scraps left over from Ryan and Tanana.

But the Angels kept yanking me out of the rotation in 1977 and 1978. It took Gary Nolan, Wayne Simpson and Gary Ross to crash and burn in 1977 and Ken Brett to be found wanting in 1978 for me to get the spot in the rotation I thought I deserved.

Then I was part of the Rod Carew trade. On paper, it was great for me and probably the best the Twins could do.

It didn’t work out that way. 6-10, 5.36 and an ERA+ 82. I went from sunny California to Minnesota, playing in front of indifferent fans on a team going nowhere. I stunk and they stunk.

Very poorly written and not at all accurate. Anyone who authors things like this should put their name on it. I can assure you it’s not written by me.
Bo does have the right story on the picture. Baseball is a business. Not every day is roses. I’m proud I pitched over 700 innings in the major leagues. If you do a sort on pitchers who threw more than 500 innings, it cuts down on the number of players dramatically.
Paul Hartzell